In the cross-border e-commerce circle, there is an American law firm called GBC that everyone hates. If you are not careful, your account will be blocked and your money will be frozen. Many sellers have been cheated by it. Do you know a lot about GBC? Do you have your own story related to it?
1. How did GBC succeed so many times?
1. First, they take advantage of the sellers’ eagerness to make money and send suspected counterfeit products to them, asking them if they have the products. They also say that they need a large quantity and the price is negotiable, and that they only accept PayPal payments.
Faced with such temptation, many sellers, even if their stores do not have the product, agree to accept the order for the purpose of making money and think they can purchase it immediately, and they also provide their own PayPal accounts.
2. Taking advantage of the user-first mentality, they repeatedly told the seller that the operation was unsuccessful and that other PayPal accounts were needed in order to subsequently withdraw more funds from the PayPal accounts.
This is why some sellers have had their accounts frozen even though they have not engaged in any infringement or counterfeiting activities and have not conducted any related transactions, but simply lent their PayPal accounts to friends to collect payments. PayPal only formally notified the seller that he needed to find a lawyer to resolve the issue, and the account will not be unblocked until it receives a court ruling.
3. American lawyers are paid on an hourly basis, ranging from US$300 to US$400 per hour. Many of our small and medium-sized sellers simply cannot afford the high fees of American lawyers, so many people choose to give up, and the frozen funds in the PayPal account will be cleared after a while.
Even if you file for lawsuit because the amount of funds in the frozen account is too high, it is not only a very complicated process, but the loss of funds is also very distressing.
4. The last point that must be mentioned is that a small number of Chinese sellers take chances and often leave a bad impression on overseas buyers by selling counterfeit goods and infringing on their rights. This seems to have become a "crime" that many sellers cannot wash away. It is precisely because it is inseparable from "fakes" that "buyers" with ulterior motives seize the opportunity and take advantage of it.
2. What is the process for GBC to freeze a Paypal account?
1. Step 1: GBC collects evidence
GBC will purchase the infringing products, send them to Illinois, and collect original evidence. What's worse, they obtain evidence through phishing: they contact sellers through Skype, email, etc., saying that they need to buy a certain big-brand product and the purchase quantity is relatively large, and ask the sellers to provide pictures and Paypal account numbers. Even if there is no transaction, even if the seller currently does not have infringing products on hand, these pictures can be used as evidence.
2. Step 2: GBC files a lawsuit in a local court
It is usually the court in Illinois. In the early years, when brand owners saw infringement, they usually asked eBay/Paypal to handle it. Now brand owners entrust it to GBC, and GBC directly takes the original evidence to the court to sue.
3. Step 3: The court orders Paypal to freeze the account
Paypal is an American company. The terms between Paypal and Chinese sellers are signed in the name of Paypal Singapore. Even so, Paypal's parent company is in the United States and must abide by US laws.
4. Step 4: Paypal freezes the account and notifies the seller
During this period, GBC will send an email to the seller, informing you that you have infringed the brand's intellectual property rights and that GBC has asked the court to order Paypal to freeze the account. At this point, many sellers were confused because they had never encountered such a situation before.
For example, a seller has two friends, one is accused of infringing Ray-Ban, and the other is accused of infringing Chrome Hearts. Both choose not to respond to the lawsuit. If the defendant seller does not respond, the plaintiff goes through the legal process, the domestic seller is found to have lost, and Paypal will transfer the entire Paypal balance to the plaintiff in accordance with the court's ruling.
If you want to respond to the lawsuit and not give up, you need to find an American lawyer, and the lawyer's fee will be between US$1,000 and US$3,000. Moreover, since there is a time limit for responding to the lawsuit, how do you find a reliable lawyer to respond to the lawsuit? I don’t know why at the moment, but this is definitely a headache for many sellers.
3. Explanation of GBC FAQs
1. The goods I bought from GBC have not been shipped yet. Can the problem be solved by not shipping them?
Answer: Not shipping the goods will not solve the problem. Even if there is no payment and the transaction is cancelled, as long as GBC takes a screenshot to prove that your PayPal is related to the infringing product, GBC can sue you in a US court, and the court will ask PayPal to freeze your account.
2. If I find out that GBC has purchased my product and my product is indeed infringing, what should I do?
Answer: Withdraw cash immediately and change the PayPal account posted online after withdrawal. If you don’t have other PayPal accounts, quickly register one with the same identity. Everyone can register N personal advanced PayPal accounts.
3.Will the PayPal account registered in this way be unlinked?
Answer: There is definitely a connection, but based on the actual results of other sellers, there will be no problem. There is a seller who has been cheated by GBC 6-7 times. He registered N PayPal accounts with the same identity to receive payments without any problem.
4. I have a lot of listings, but PayPal is not updating quickly. What should I do?
Answer: First set the store to vacation status, and do not let the PayPal account continue to receive payments, because the money that flows in will soon not be yours, but you still have to ship the goods, and then use software to change the PayPal account.
5. Will being sued by GBC affect my eBay account?
A: No impact, GBC is only interested in the money in your Paypal. GBC actually bypassed eBay, and eBay probably felt helpless that the MC999 could not be shipped.
